On Tuesday, Cabinet approved The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022, which strives to merge Delhi's three municipal corporations — South, North and East — 10 years after the trifurcation of the civic body.

Officials told the media that the amendment is likely to be scheduled in the ongoing Budget session of Parliament. The Cabinet clearance comes days after a press conference scheduled by the State Election Commissioner to declare the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) poll dates were delayed at the last moment after the Centre expressed its intent to unify the three civic bodies.

While the BJP has been ruling the civic groups for the past 15 years, it faces a difficult challenge from the AAP this time. Two weeks back, when the State Election Commissioner decided to postpone the announcement, it got a sharp reaction from the AAP which blamed the Commissioner for succumbing to pressure from the BJP.

On the requirement for the merger, an official told the media that the erstwhile Delhi Municipal Corporation was trifurcated into three Municipal Corporations. The trifurcation was uneven in terms of the territorial divisions and revenue-generating potential of every corporation. As a result, there was a significant gap in the resources available to the three corporations, vis-a-vis their obligations. The gap has widened over a while, raising the financial problems of the three municipal corporations, leaving them incapacitated to make timely payment of salaries and retirement benefits to their employees and thereby causing serious impediments in supporting civic services in Delhi.

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